Ligon Duncan: A Historical Passion for Christ

Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III, a native of Greenville, South Carolina, was born and reared in the home of an eighth generation Southern Presbyterian Ruling Elder. A 1983 graduate of Furman University, he received an MDiv from Covenant Theological Seminary and studied Systematic Theology at the Free Church of Scotland College under Professor Donald Macleod. He earned the PhD from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1995.

He served on the staff of The Covenant Presbyterian Church of St. Louis from 1984-1987, and supplied pulpits in churches of the Presbyterian Association of England, Church of Scotland, and Free Church of Scotland while in Britain from 1987-1990. In 1990 he was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and joined the faculty of Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS), Jackson, Mississippi where he was Chairman of the Department of Systematic Theology, and the John R. Richardson Professor of Theology. At RTS he was responsible for teaching courses such as Systematic Theology, Ethics, Apologetics, History of Philosophy and Christian Thought, Covenant Theology, Patristics, Evangelism, and Theology of the Westminster Standards. He became the Senior Minister of First Presbyterian, Jackson in 1996.

Duncan is an active churchman and has been involved in the courts of the PCA in various ways for many years. He was appointed to the General Assembly’s Committee on Psalmody, and has served on Committees of Commissioners for Covenant Seminary, MNA, and Bills and Overtures in 2002. He has been a member and Chairman of the Credentials Committee of the Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley (1996-2002). He was the Vice-Chairman of the General Assembly’s Creation Study Committee (1998-2000), a member of the Search Committee for a Coordinator of Reformed University Ministries, and currently is the Chairman of the General Assembly’s Theological Examination Committee, and is also a member of the PCA’s Strategic Planning Committee. Duncan was elected as Moderator of the Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley in 2001. At the annual denominational meeting, held in June of 2004, he was elected the Moderator of the General Assembly of the PCA (2004-2005) – the youngest minister to serve as moderator in the denomination’s history.

Ligon and his wife, Anne, are the parents of Sarah Kennedy and Jennings.

Why have I been influenced by Ligon Duncan? Simple. More than anyone I’ve read, Duncan has opened my eyes to the importance of Church history. We are not standing alone when we meet for worship. We are not generational snobs. We ought to value those things which the theologians of Church history have left us throughout the centuries. They’ve left us enormous gems that we can use still today, and if we don’t do this we’re missing out on our rich heritage.

To see his stunning contributions to today’s Church, see below:

1987

Duncan, J. Ligon. “Common Sense and American Presbyterianism: An Evaluation of the Impact of Scottish Realism on Nineteenth American Presbyterianism at Princeton and in the South.” MA Thesis, Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, 1987.

Duncan, J. Ligon. “Two African Apologists: Arnobius and Lactantius.” Short paper first given to the University of Edinburgh, New College, Department of Ecclesiastical History’s Seminar on “The Origins of North African Christianity from the beginnings to Augustine,” December 7, 1987. View online

1988

Duncan, J. Ligon. “Augustine and African Manichaeism.” Short paper first given to the University of Edinburgh, New College, Department of Ecclesiastical History’s Seminar on “The Origins of North African Christianity from the beginnings to Augustine,” January 28, 1988. View online

Duncan, J. Ligon. “Pelagian Origins.” Short paper first given to the University of Edinburgh, New College, Department of Ecclesiastical History’s Seminar on “The Origins of North African Christianity from the beginnings to Augustine,” February 10, 1988. View online

Duncan, J. Ligon. “The Vandal Era.” Short paper first given to the University of Edinburgh, New College, Department of Ecclesiastical History’s Seminar on “The Origins of North African Christianity from the beginnings to Augustine,” March/April, 1988. View online

1989

Duncan, J. Ligon. “Irenaeus: Sabbatarian or Anti-Sabbatarian? — A Look at the Old Law in the New Covenant in the Theology of Irenaeus of Lyons.” Paper given before the Faculty of Divinity, Department of Ecclesiastical History, University of Edinburgh, New College, March 1, 1989. Greenville: Reformed Academic Press, 1998. View online

Duncan, J. Ligon. Christology, Soteriology, and Eschatology. An introduction to the doctrines of Christ, salvation, and the last things in binder form. Orlando: RTS and RTS Media Ministries, 1993. Buy online With accompanying audiotapes available through the RTS bookstore.

Duncan, J. Ligon. Revitalizing the Ministry through Theology: A Call for Reformational Revolution. Lectures given at 1993 MNA Mid-South Retreat held at Twin Lakes Conference Center October 21-22 in Jackson, Mississippi.

Duncan, J. Ligon. “Moses’ Law for Modern Government: The Intellectual and Sociological Origins of the Christian Reconstructionist Movement.” Paper given at the Social Science History Association National Meeting, Saturday, October 15, 1994. Jackson: RTS Bookstore, 1994. Greenville: Reformed Academic Press, 19962. View online

Duncan, J. Ligon. “The Union of God and His People: Covenant Theology and the Church Today.” Paper given at the Reformed Fellowship of the Southeastern United States, First Presbyterian Church [ARP], Columbia, SC, February 23, 1994. Greenville: Reformed Academic Press, 1998.

Carruthers, S.W. The Westminster Confession: The Preparation and Printing of its Seven Leading Editions and A Critical Edition. With an introduction by J. Ligon Duncan III. Greenville: Reformed Academic Press, 1995

Mikkelson, David P. “The Belgic Confession-Article 9: The Proof of the foregoing Article of the Trinity of the Three Persons in One God.” Christian Observer 173.15 (Aug 4, 1995): 23-24. Edited by J. Ligon Duncan III.

Duncan, J. Ligon. “Owning the Confession: Subscription in the Scottish Tradition.” Chapter in The Practice of Confessional Subscription. Edited by David W. Hall. Lanham: University Press of America, 1995. Uniform Resource Locator Premise

Witsius, Herman. The Character of a True Theologian. Translated by John Donaldson. Edited by J. Ligon Duncan III. With a foreword by William Cunningham and an introduction by Michael Honeycutt. Greenville: Reformed Academic Press, 1995.

Duncan, J. Ligon. “The Covenant Idea in MELITO OF SARDIS: An Introduction and Survey.” Paper given at the North American Patristic Society, National meeting, Thursday, May 29, 1997. Greenville: Reformed Academic Press, 1998.

*Duncan, J. Ligon. “General Revelation and Current Reformed Apologetics and Epistemology: A Seventeenth-Century Protestant Scholastic Review and Critique.” Paper given at the Evangelical Theological Society, National meeting, Friday, November 21, 1997.

“The Belgic Confession-Article 2: By what means God is made known unto us,”
Premise V.

Duncan, J. Ligon. “The Covenant Idea in IRENAEUS OF LYONS: An Introduction and Survey.” Paper given at the North American Patristic Society, National meeting, Thursday, May 28, 1998. Greenville: Reformed Academic Press, 1998.

Duncan, J. Ligon. Book Review of To Glorify and Enjoy God: A Commemoration of the 350th Anniversary of the Westminster Assembly, by John L. Carson and David W. Hall, eds. (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1994). In Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 41.4 (December 1998): 659-660.

Duncan, J. Ligon. “God’s Grace in the Midst of Treachery: God’s Grace, His Gracious Providence and Gracious Judgment in the Story of Joab, Abner and David (2 Samuel 3:22-30).” Short paper first submitted at Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, MO for “Old Testament History and Theology,” April 13, 1984.

Duncan, J. Ligon. “How Does Covenant Theology Help the Preacher?” Paper given to the Philadelphia Conference on Reformation Theology, pre-conference seminar sessions, (repeated in Colorado Springs, CO, Indianapolis, IN, and Philadelphia, PA), March-April, 2001. Available to buy in cassette form at PCRT

Duncan, J. Ligon. “N.T. Wright and the New Perspective: An Introduction and Critique.” Paper given to the Presbyterian Church in America Fourth Convocation on Revival and Reformation, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Jackson, MS, November, 2001).

Duncan, J. Ligon. “The Openness of God Controversy.” Paper given to the Philadelphia Conference on Reformation Theology, (repeated in Colorado Springs, CO, Indianapolis, IN, and Philadelphia, PA), March-April, 2001. To be produced in pamphlet form by the ACE. View online & Buy in audio cassette form at PCRT

Duncan, J. Ligon. “A Reply to Concerns and Objections regarding Original Intent and the Creation Days.” Paper e-published by the Center for the Advancement of Paleo-Orthodoxy, July 9, 2001. Uniform Resource Locator capo.org

Duncan, J. Ligon. “A Statement of Our Situation and Need.” Statement given during the Wednesday Evening Special Prayer Service, September 12, 2001 and posted on the website of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals at alliancenet.org

Duncan, J. Ligon. “The Attractions of the New Perspective(s) on Paul.” Transcript of a paper given in Jackson, Mississippi and Glasgow, Scotland. Posted on the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals website, 2004. View online

Duncan, J. Ligon. “More Concerns about N.T. Wright and the New Perspective(s): Divine monergism at work in regeneration and justification has a vital role in sanctification.” Essay originally posted on the PCA News website, 2003, and republished by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, 2004.

Duncan, J. Ligon and Terry Johnson. “A Call to Family Worship.” The Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Volume IX Issue 1 (Spring 2004) 6-15. This article was originally published as, and has been slightly edited from “A Call to Family Worship” in Give Praise to God, Philipsburg: NJ: P&R 2003.

Duncan, J. Ligon. “Origen: Minister of the New Covenant-Not of Letter But of Spirit.” Chapter in Interpreting and Teaching the Word of Hope. Edited by Robert L. Penny, Taylors, SC: Presbyterian Press, 2005.

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